CPTnet
SOUTH DAKOTA:Leasing Recreation Sites--"Facts on the Ground" in the U.S.
by Joanne "Jake" Kaufman

South Dakota Governor William Janklow charged into
the dim meeting room of the Iron Horse Motel in Pierre, South
Dakota, dressed in tiger-striped pants and an open-necked shirt. He was
going boating. But first he wanted to ensure that the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers agree to approve leases to the state for recreation areas on the
Missouri River, on treaty land belonging to the Great Sioux Nation.

Proponents of the Mitigation Act, which transfers 92,000 acres of land along
the west side of the Missouri to the state of South Dakota, say that
subsequent legislation and Supreme Court decisions by the U.S. abrogate that
treaty. Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) slipped the Mitigation Act, officially
called, "Title VI Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and
State of South Dakota Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Restoration Act of 1999,"
into a 40-pound budget bill last fall after it was defeated in the House of
Representatives.

Lakota people opposing the transfer of their land to the state
have set up a fire symbolizing that treaty rights still burn on
an island a few blocks from the state capitol in Pierre. They
had just given testimony against the transfer to representatives from the
Army Corps and the state, who did not meet their eyes.

"You took Indian lands to finance your first colonies and your
wars... [Senator] Daschle is a criminal for trying to take more
of our land. This will not happen," said one Lakota woman in a
calm voice.

Minutes later, the governor growled to a bevy of Army Corps
lawyers from Washington about the disrepair of boating ramps and other
recreational sites along the river administered by the Army Corps. As they
nodded busily, he said that he had heard complaints about dumpy, unpainted
bathrooms from out-of-state visitors. He said he was fed up with the Corps'
ineffective administration of sites that are important to a budding state
tourist industry.

The remedy? Lease the sites to the state. Governor Janklow
said, "I want them turned over today." Paul Wemhoener, Omaha
District, said "You have to apply for the lease just like anyone
else. But we will respond as soon as you do so." When the
meeting resumed minutes later, Wemhoener explained that the state would go
through a leasing process just like anyone else When tribal representatives
present asked if they also could lease land, he said they could, but was
much less enthusiastic.

The Corps has now approved leases for construction on 15
recreational sites to the state of South Dakota, effective on
September 7, 1999, just two months away. Fifty-four recreation sites are
pending lease to the state by January 1, 2000. By leasing them, the state
can begin developing sites which it is slated to get through the transfer,
undermining the environmental impact study the Corps is required to complete
before transferring the land to the state.

The lease process shortens the time period for the Lakota
people who oppose the bill to lobby for congressional oversight
hearings and forces them to consider costly litigation.

Lakota people are put in the same situation as Palestinians who watch
Israeli settlers "legally" whittle away at their ancestral land while
politicians negotiate agreements. The longer the politicians talk, the more
land gets taken. And, if the leases include the La Framboise Island site
where the tipi camp is located, Governor Janklow will have the authority to
physically threaten the inhabitants of the camp.